Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Photograph by Brian Connelly
Concentration: Willow Glen third baseman Carter Reiners prepares to field a ground ball during the semifinal game against Almaden South in the District 12 Little League major division all-star tournament.
Lincoln Glen reaches district semifinals
Willow Glen posts 2-2 record in pool play
By Kevin Sparrer
Almaden made the Los Gatos pitchers hurt. Unfortunately, it was literally as well as metaphorically.
Almaden North faced Los Gatos National in the final round of pool play in the District 12 Little League major division all-star tournament on July 15 at the Branham Hills Little League field. The game took only five innings thanks to the overpowering bats of the Almaden squad. Almaden blasted three home runs in the game, including a line drive grand slam in the top of the fifth by Conner Jauch, on the road to a 14-0 victory.
Unfortunately for Los Gatos, in the top of the third Jauch also hit a hard ground ball back at the pitcher that bounced up and caught Evan Hench in the back of the elbow, putting him out of the game. Preston Rind came on to finish out the game for Los Gatos, but the first pitch he threw was crushed by Mitchell Evanier over the right field wall for a two-run homer.
Almaden North finished 3-1 in pool play. It won its first game over Union 7-0 on July 8, dropped the second game to Los Gatos American 6-3 on July 11, defeated Quito 12-0 on July 14 and then won against Los Gatos National last weekend.
Almaden North was to advance to the semifinal round of the tournament on July 17 to face Saratoga.
Lincoln Glen was also to participate in the semifinal round of the tournament on July 17 against Los Gatos American thanks to a win over Willow Glen on July 15, 7-4. The winners of the Lincoln Glen-Los Gatos American and Almaden North-Saratoga games were to meet for the District 12 major division championship on July 18, 5:30 p.m., at Branham Hills.
K.C. Sullivan had the big hit for Lincoln Glen with a deep fly that cleared the wall. John Riley smacked two hits, including a double. Kris Olugbode ripped a single and Mark Amann knocked a double in the win.
Willow Glen struggled in the loss, with only four hits in the game. Joe Gotelli had one of the four hits, which cleared the wall for one of two home runs by Willow Glen. Will Hein also smashed one out of the yard. Tim Emory hammered a double and James Johnson ripped a single in the loss.
Lincoln Glen finished 2-2 in pool play and broke the tie between a number of different teams with the win over Willow Glen. Lincoln Glen fell in the first round 9-0 against Saratoga on July 7, then won against San Jose American 4-1 on July 8 before losing to Branham Hills on July 13, 1-0, and finally defeating Willow Glen.
The rest of the Lincoln Glen squad includes Jo Rivera, Joe DeCecco, Trevor James, Joe Gigauntino, Cameron Densamore, Jason De La Rocha and Mike Riley.
Willow Glen also finished 2-2 in pool play, but fell to the wrong teams in head-to-head competition and was unable to advance. Willow Glen defeated Branham Hills in its first game on July 8, 9-8, then defeated San Jose American 13-11 on July 10 before dropping the last two to Almaden South 8-2 on July 14 and finally to Lincoln Glen.
The rest of the Willow Glen team includes Jimmy Wallace, Zach Savedra, Scott Canha, Andrew LaRock, Carter Reiners, Eric Ortiz, Domenic Vaiasicca and Darren Hollak.
